The present invention generally relates to animal traps, and more particularly to live animal traps which trap the paw or lower leg of an animal.
Various wild animals, especially animals like raccoons, often need to be captured so they can be either relocated from one area to another, or killed. Such capture of these wild animals requires baiting and trapping the animals.
Various traps have been designed to capture such animals. One such type of trap includes a spring loaded trigger which can be activated by the paw of an animal. When the spring loaded trigger is moved in a certain direction, a restraining member is moved to trap a paw or lower leg of the animal such that it cannot release itself from the trap. A spring biases the retainer against the paw or lower leg with enough force to retain the animal until the trapper releases the animal. However, such traps are very difficult to set due to the large biasing force of the springs needed to adequately hold the lower leg or paw of an animal such that the animal cannot release itself.
An embodiment of the present invention is an animal trap that includes an enclosure body having a first side and a second side and at least one wall, the wall having at least one upper aperture and at least one lower aperture therein; a set dog connected to the enclosure body, the set dog adjacent the first side of the enclosure body and having a latch portion and a leg connected to the latch portion; a trigger having a first end and a second end, the first end adjacent the leg of the set dog and the second end inside the enclosure body; a setting member, such as a plate, which engages the latch portion of the set dog and is capable of disengaging from the latch portion; a restraint extending through the upper aperture of the enclosure body and having an engagement portion inside the enclosure body, the restraint being connected to the setting member; and a biasing member which biases a portion of the setting member away from the enclosure body and biases the restraint toward the first side of the enclosure body.
Another embodiment is an animal trap having an enclosure body; a set dog adjacent to and connected to a first side of the enclosure body, the set dog having a latch portion adjacent its upper end and adjacent a top of the enclosure body; a trigger extending into the enclosure body and having an end adjacent the set dog; a setting member for engagement and disengagement with the latch portion of the set dog and connected to a restraint that extends into the interior of the enclosure body; and a biasing member which biases the restraint toward one side of the enclosure body.
Another embodiment of the present invention is a method for using an animal trap which comprises the steps of providing an animal trap having: an enclosure body having an interior, a set dog adjacent to and connected to the enclosure body, the set dog having a latch portion and a leg, a trigger having a blade extending into the interior of the enclosure body and an end adjacent the leg of the set dog and capable of moving the leg, a setting member capable of engaging with the latch portion of the set dog and connected to a restraint, and a biasing member which biases the restraint in a direction transverse to the longitudinal axis of the enclosure body; moving at least a portion of the setting member toward the enclosure body to engage the portion of the setting member with the latch of the set dog until the trap is in a set position; and inserting a bait into the interior of the enclosure body such that an animal can reach it and move the blade of the trigger. Trigger movement causes the trigger to engage a portion of the leg and move the set dog sufficiently to disengage the setting member from the latch of the set dog, the biasing member moving the restraint toward the rear side of the enclosure body.